Metronome.



PATENTED SEPT. 1, 1903.

J.BRADY.

' METRONOME.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 5, 1902.

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W|TNE$$E$5 A r INVENTUR ,4 ATTORNEY s m: NORRIS PETERS co: mctauma.WASWNGYON a c UNITED STATES Iatented September 1, 190?;

PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES BRADY, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORIQASSIGNOR TO HORATIO R; PALMER, OF NEWYORK, N. Y., AND LYMAN s. LEASON, OF PIIILA;

DELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

METRONOME.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 738,093, datedSeptember 1, 1903.

Application filed April 5, 1902. Serial No. 101,453. (No model.)

T0 at whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JAMES BRADY, a citizen of the United States, and aresident of the borough of Brooklyn, county of Kings, city and State ofNew York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inMetronomes, of which the following is a specification, reference beinghad therein to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a frontelevation thereof; Fig. 2, a similar view of the mechanism, the casebeing removed; Fig. 3, a plan view; Fig. 4, a horizontal sectional viewtaken on line 4 4c of Fig. 1; Fig. 5, a vertical sectional View taken onthe line 5 5 of Fig. 1; Fig. 6, a detail view of the pallets of theescapement; and Figs. 7, 8, 9, and 10 diagrammatic views of the palletsof the escapement and various arrangements of the pins on the pin-drum.

In accent-metronomes of the type'usually employed the accented beat isobtained by employing a bell ringing mechanism by which a bell is struckon the beat which it is desired to accent. The beats are indicated by auniform sound, while the accent is indicated by a different sound-thatis, by the bell-stroke. By thus accenting a beat with a sound differingin quality from the sound of the regular beats of the measure theattention of the musician or other person using the metronome isdistracted from the regular sound of the beats. Another objection to thebell is that there is great vibration to its sound, which vibration isapt to interfere with the securing of the musical note, which should bestruck on the accented beat.

It is desirable in accent-metronomes that all the beats should be of thesame quality of sound and that the accented beat should merely be of agreater volume, and one of the main purposes of this invention is toprovide a metronome by which this result will be obtained.

A further object of this invention is to provide means whereby theoperation of the pendulum will he more regular thanin the metronomcs ofthe ordinary type in which a helical or clock spring is employed andwhich will run longer at one winding than the ordinary metronome withoutany necessity of increasing the size thereof.

A further object of the invention is to produce a metronome of simpleconstruction which may be simply and cheaply manufactured and which willbe efficient in operation and have'longer life.

The casing l of the metronome, as shown, is hexagonal, but may be of anydesired form in horizontal section and is cast in three Verticalsections 2, each section comprising two sides of the hexagonal casing.This casing is enlarged at its base to receive the operating mechanism,and the walls of this enlarged part are vertical; but from a pointslightly above said mechanism the walls extend inward and are horizontalfor a short distance. From the inner end of this horizontal portion theWalls extend upward and inward,so that the upper part is reduced in sizeand is tapered toward the top. The upper ends of the sections extendinward, as at 3, to form the top of the casing.

A base-plate at, which is substantially trian gular in shape, is securedto inward extending lugs or projections 5, which are formed integralwith the sections 2 of the casing near the bottom thereof, one of saidlugs being formed at the center of each section, the baseplate beingsecured to the bottom of these lugs by screws or other suitablefastening devices. In the center of this plate is mounted a verticalrotatable shaft 6, whose upper end passes through the top of the casing,and around the opening through which this rod passes is formed anupward-extending annular flange 7, which is externally threaded, asection of this flange being cast integral with each section of thecasing. To tie all of the sections of the casing together at their upperends, an internally-threaded cap 7 is screwed on said flange, said capbeing provided with a central aperture, through which the upper end ofthe shaft 6 extends. One longitudinal edge of each section of the casingis grooved, as at 6, and the other longitudinal edge of each section isformed with a tongue 6 the three sections being so formed that whenassembled the tongue of one section of the casing will engage and fit inthe groove of the adjoining section, as shown clearly in Fig. at. Itwill thus be seen that when the base-plate is secured in position andthe cap is screwed on the flange the sections of the casing will besecurely fastened at their upper and lower ends and that other fasteningmeans will be unnecessary. By this construction the casing is capable ofeconomical manufacture and the parts thereof may be quickly assembled.As shown in Fig. 1, it is preferred that this casing be provided withopenings through which the sound may escape. As shown, these openingsare in the form of windows of the Gothic style of architecture; but ofcourse they may be of any desired'shape to give to the exterior of themetronome a pleasing appearance.

Mounted on the base-plate within the cas ing is a standard 10, whichsupports at its upper end a horizontal pendulum-shaft 10, which isarranged radial to the central Vertical shaft. On the outer end of thishorizontal shaft is rigidly mounted a pendulum 11, which is providedwith the usual upward extending gage-bar 12, the weight 13 beingslidable thereon, as in the usual form of metronome, to govern the speedof the beat. This gage-bar extends through a slot or opening in the topof the enlarged base of the casing and swings in front of the reducedupper portion thereof. To the front of this gagebar is secured or markedthereon the usual scale and index, by which the position of thespeed-governing weight is determined, to secure the desired rapidity ofbeat. On the inner end of the shaft 11 is rigidly secured the pallets14, and adjacent to these pallets is mounted the escape-wheel orpin-drum, which acts as a striking device. The pallets of the escapementare of the usual form, except that they are double faced. They arespaced apart on the shaft a slight distance, the lower edge of the innerpallet and the upper edge of the outer pallet being radial to the shafton which they are mounted, said edges being beveled in oppositedirections, as shown clearly in the drawings. The upper edge of theinner pallet and lower edge of the outer pallet are tangential and arealso beveled in opposite directions for a purpose whichwillhereinafterappear. Theouterend of the pendulum-shaft projects beyondthe support thereof and rests lightly on a small sounding-board 9. Thissounding-board is supported on an arm of the standard 10 and isrotatably adjustable in order to vary the point of contact with theouter end of the pendulum-shaft. This board may be cutout, as shown indotted lines in Fig. 2, in order that by moving said board to bring therecess 9 toward or form the escapement-shaft the sound given out by theboard may be slightly varied.

A vertically-movable frame 16 is mounted on a post 17 and is formed withthe two horizontal arms 18, between which is mounted the vertical shaft19, which is in the form of a broad-faced pinion. On this shaft isrigidly secured the striking device or pin-drum 20. This drum isprovided with a plurality of series of tangential pins, each seriesbeing horizontally arranged around the drum, said pins being so arrangedon the drum that those of any one series may be caused to engage andoperate the pallets. It is desirable in accented measures that the firstbeat of each measure be accented, and in order to accomplish thiswithout the use of a separate accenting mechanism certain of the pins ofeach series are spaced farther apart than other pins of the same series.The purpose of this is to give the pin-drum a greater speed of movementat certain intervals and to thereby cause certain of the pins to strikethe cam-escapement with greater force than others. By thus striking thepallets an increased blow the end of the pendulum-shaft is drivenagainst the sounding-board with greater force and produces a loudersound of the same quality as the softer beats.

Near the lower edge of the pin-drum is arranged a series 21 of pins,which are spaced equal distances apart around the drum for the purposeof giving unaccented beats. When it is desired that all the beats shallbe equal in volume of soundthat is, without accent the pin-drum ispositioned to bring this lower series of pins in position to engage theradial edges of the pallets of the escapement. The

operation of this set of pins is substantially the same as theescapement mechanism of the ordinary metronome, the movement of the drumat all times being such that the stroke or sound is uniform. Above thisseries of pins is a series 22, the distance between the pins of thisseries being just double the distance between the pins of the seriesbelow. The purpose of this is that when this second series of pins isbrought in position to engage the radial edges of the pallets there willbe a variation in the sound at each second stroke of the pendulum. Eachpin first contacts with the beveled lower edge of the innermost pallet,and then as the pendulum swings slips off said pallet and contacts withthe beveled up per edge of the other pallet. It will therefore be seenthat as the distance between the pallets is very mueh less than thedistance between the inner pallet and the pin that is next to contacttherewith the movement of the pin-drum will be much less when a pin ismoved from one pallet to the next than it will be when a pin is movedinto contact with the innermost pallet. This greater movement of thepin-drum will permit the drum to attain a greater speed and will causethe pins to strike the innermost pallet with greater force than theystrike the outermost one, thereby causing a greater sound on the firstbeat, and this produces what is known as double measure. This series ofpins is placed in position to contact with the pallets when doublemeasure is desired, with the accent on the first beat.

Above the second series of pins is arranged a series 23, by means ofwhich triple measure is secured with the accent on the first beat. Thisseries differs from the others in that it consists of two horizontalparallel rows of pins. The pins of these two rows are peculiarlyarranged, as shown in Fig. 9 of the drawings, and the object of thispeculiar arrangement of pins is to accent each third beat. In operationthe pin-drum is adjusted to bring this double-row series of pins in sucha position that the upper row of pins will engage the upper beveled edgeof the inner pallet while the pins of the lower row will engage thebeveled lower edge of the outer pallet. Each pin of each row of thisdouble-row series will contact with only one of the pallets of theescapement. It is therefore necessary in order to get the three beatsand have the accented beat in the correctrotation that the three pins bearranged as shown. It will be observed that the accent will be caused bythe forward pin of each set of two striking the pallets and thattherefore the accented beat will be given first by the upper row of pinsand then by the lower row of this double series.

When the measure desired is double measure or a measure which is amultiple of two, a single series of pins may be employed,said pins beingproperly spaced apart on the pindrum to bring the accent on the properbeat. This is made possible by causing each pin to contact with theradial edge of each pallet of the escapement, thereby making two beatswith each pin. vVhen triple measure is desired, with the accent on firstbeat of each measure, two rows ofpins must be employed, and one of saidrows must be arranged to contact with the upper edge of the inner palletand the other to contact with the lower edge of the outer pallet, asdescribed and as shown in Fig. 9.

Above the double-row series of pins is arranged a fourth series 24,which is a singlerow series arranged in sets of two, the space betweenthe pins of the sets being equal and the space between the sets beingdouble the space between the pins of each set. W'hen quadruple measureis desired, the pin-drum is shifted to bring this fourth set of pins insuch a position that each pin will successively engage the lower bevelededge of the inner pallet of the escapement and the upper beveled edge ofthe outer pallet thereof. It will thus be seen that as each pin contactswith each pallet the two pins of each set will give four beats and thatthe first beat of each four will be accented. Above this fourth seriesisanother series of pins 25, and this latter series is arranged in sets ofthree, the spaces between the pins of each set being equal'and the spacebetween the sets being double the space between the pins of each set.When sextuple measure is desired, the pin-drum is shifted to bring thisupper set of pins in position to successively engage the lower bevelededge of the innerpallet of the escapement and the upper beveled edge ofthe outer pallet thereof. It will thus beseen that as each pin of eachset of three will contact with both pallet-s six beats or impulses willbe obtained and that the first of each six will be accented.

It will be observed that as six rows of pins are provided, each rowbeing used to produce a certain kind of measure, the life of themetronome will be greatly lengthened, the wear being distributedthroughout all the series of pins. In the metronomes of the ordinarytype only one row of pins is employed.

Pivotally connected to the upper end of the frame 17 is the lower end ofa rod 26, whose upper end is pivoted to the lower end of a crank-arm 27,which is mounted on the inner end of a stub-shaft 28. This stub-shaft ismounted in the front wall of the casing near the upper end thereof, itsouter end projecting slightly beyond the face of the casing and havingsecured thereto a transverse fingerpiece 29, which is in the form of anarrow. Around the shaft 28 is formed in the front of the casing acircular face or dial on which are formed indicating-numerals O, 2, 3,4, and 6.? The finger-piece 29 is secured to the shaft in such relationthat when the arrow is turned to point to the 0 on the dial the pin-drumwill be shifted vertically to bring the lowermost set 21 of pins intoposition to engage the escapement-cams. In this position all of thebeats are without accent. When double measure is desired, with theaccent on the first beat, the arrow is moved and pointed to the numeral2 of the dial. This will brin the series 22 of pins in position toengage the escapement. l/Vhenever triple or quadruple or sextuplemeasure is required, with the accent on the first beat, the finger-piece29 is pointed to the numeral on the dial indicating the number of beatsin p the measure desired.

In metronomes as now constructed where the accenting device is separatefrom the measuring or heating device it is obvious that when theaccenting device is brought into operation additional friction isproduced, which will impose a drag on the mechanism and render itinaccurate. This serious objection is done away in my apparatus, sincethe same devices used for heating time are used for accenting.

The vertical post 17 is provided with annular grooves or notches 30, andthe frame 16 carries a strong flat spring 31, which is bent to V form ata point about midway its length, the point of theV extending inward andriding on the post 17. The grooves in this post are so located that whenany one of the series of pins on the pin-drum is brought into positionto engage the escapement the V-point of the spring will snap into agroove in the post 17 and hold the frame against accidental verticalmovement. A guide-bar 31 is sc ing rigidly secured to the shaft.

cured rigidly to the frame 16 and engages the central shaft 6 to preventthe said frame swinging horizontally on the post 17. It is obvious thatany suitable means may be employed for this purpose.

On the vertical central shaft 6 below the escapement is loosely mounteda large drivinggear 32. This gear engages the broad-faced pinion 19,which constitutes the shaft of the pin-drum. Thisshaftofthepin-drummaybe mounted in any suitable manner in the arms of the movable frame;but it is preferred to support it on centering-points 3a. The purpose ofemploying the broad-faced pinion of the character shown is to permit ofthe vertical shifting of the pin-drum while still maintaining the pinionin mesh with the drivinggear. It is necessary to maintain these twogears in mesh at all times to prevent the driving-gear from freelyrotating or racing when the pin-drum is being shifted.

Surrounding the vertical central shaft 6 is a long coil-spring 36, whoselower end is attached to the driving-gear, its upper end be- On thelower end of this shaft below the base-plate is secured a ratchet 36,which is engaged by a pawl 37, said pawl preventing the rotation of thevertical bar in one direction and thereby holding the coil-spring undertension.

It will be noted that the pindrum or striking device is free to rotateungoverned whenever the pins are out of contact with the pallets, andthat, therefore, its speed will increase from the time one pin leavesthe pallets until the next pin contacts therewith. It is obvious,therefore, that in order to have a certain pin strike one of the palletswith greater force than other pins it is only necessary to increase thedistance between that pin and the preceding pin, and thus permit thestriking device or pin-drum to have a greater racing or ungovernedmovement, whereby it will attain a greater speed. It will also be notedthat because of this the striking device or pin-drum will rotate atdifferent speeds at intervals in its rotation.

By arranging the main shaft vertically in the center of thecasing andextending it upward through the top of the machine I not only provide aconvenient means of rewinding the spring, but also provide for the useof a long spring of the torsional type. This type of spring is vastlysuperior to the ordinary convolute clock spring usually employed inmetronomes, as more power with a given length of spring can be stored upand the power will be given off more regularly, so that when a spring ofthis type is employed with a Geneva stop-movement, hereinafterdescribed, great accuracy of movement can be obtained, especially whenthe stop device is so arranged that only the middle portion of the runof the spring is employed.

Secured to the shaft 6 below the gear is one member of an ordinaryGeneva stop-movement, the other member thereof being carried by thedriving-gear. The purpose of this stop-movement is to prevent thecoilspring being wound too tight on the shaft. This stop-movement may beof any desired construction. The upper end of the shaft 6 above thecasing is provided with a thumbpiece 38, by which the shaft may berotated for the purpose of winding the spring, said thumb-piece beingshown in the form of an arrow or weather-vane.

The operation and advantages of the invention will be readily understoodfrom the foregoing, and, as various changes in the details ofconstruction may be made without departing from the scope of theinvention, I desire it understood that I do not wish to limit myself tothe exact construction shown and described.

While the preferred form of my invention embodies as a sounding device atappet-shaft, which, as shown, is the oscillating pendulumshaft carryingthe pallets, adapted to strike against a suitable resonant device, suchas a sounding-board, and a pin-drum as a striking device, this drumbeing ungoverned eX- cept by said tappet device and beingspringac'tuated, it will be understood that in its broadest aspect theinvention contemplates the employment of any suitable sound-producingmeans when used in conjunction with a movable striking device and meansfor moving the striking device at different speeds to produce sounds ofdifferent degrees of volume but of the same character.

Having thus described my invention, wha I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a metronome, the combination of a sound-producing means, of arotatable striking device adapted to operate said sounding means, andmeans for moving the striking device at different speeds and withdifferent degrees of force during each revolution thereof to producesounds of different degrees of volume.

2. In a metronome, a rotatable striking device in combination with meansfor moving said device at different speeds and with different degrees offorce during each revolution thereof, to produce sounds of differentdegrees of volume.

3. In a metronome, the combination of a sound-producing means, arotatable striking device provided with an annular row of pins adaptedto operate said sounding means, and means for moving the strikingdeviceat different speeds and with different degrees of force duringeach revolution thereof to cause the pins to operate the sounding deviceto produce sounds of different degrees of volume.

4. In a metronome, the combination of a sound-producing means, arotatable striking device provided with an annular row of pins which areunequally spaced apart at intervals and are adapted to operate thesounding means, and means for moving the striking de-' IIO vice atdifferent speeds and with different degrees of force during eachrevolution thereof to cause the pins to produce sounds of differentdegrees of volume.

5. In a metronome, the combination with a pin-drum provided with anannular row of pins, of escapement-pallets in position to be engaged bythe pins during the rotation of the pin drum, said pins being unequallyspaced apart at intervals around the drum, whereby some of the spacesbetween the pins will be longer than others the longer spaces beingequal and the shorterspaces being equal and an ungoverned means forrotating the pin-drum freely whereby the speed of the drum will beaccelerated atintervals according to the spacing of the pins.

6. In a metronome, the combination with the pin-drum provided with anannular row of pins, said pins being unequally spaced apart atintervals, escapement-pallets in position to be engaged by said pins,the pallets intermittently arresting the movement of the drum to causesaid drum to have a step-bystep movement, and an ungoverned means forrotating the drum said means accelerating the speed thereof during thelonger steps to cause some of the pins to strike the escapement-palletwith greater force than other of said pins.

7. In a metronome, the combination with a pin drum, a sound producingmeans, said means permitting said drum to have a stepby-step rotarymovement, and an ungoverned means for rotating the said drum, said meansaccelerating the speed of the drum during some of the steps of itsmovement, and consequently the force of the blow against thesound-producing means.

8. In a metronome, the combination of a pendulum-shaft, a pendulummounted thereon, a pair of pallets on said shaft, a pin-drum, an annularrow of pins on said drum arranged in sets and in position to engage thepallets whereby the drum is permitted to have a stepby-step rotarymovement, the pins of each set being equally spaced apart and the spacebetween the sets being greater than the distance between the pins ofeach set whereby the drum will be permitted to make a series of shortsteps and then a long step and the long steps will be made at regularintervals, and an ungoverned means for rotating the pin-drum freely whenthe pins are out of contact with the pallets to accelerate the speed ofthe drum during the long steps, for the purpose set forth.

9. In a metronome, the combination of a shaft carrying a pair ofescapement-pallets, a sounding device adjacent one end of said shaft, apin-drum provided with an annular row of pins adapted to contact withthe pallets to drive the shaft against a sounding device, the palletspermitting a step-by-step movement of the drum and the pins being sospaced apart that the pallets will permit the drum to make a short stepor a plurality of pendulum, asupporting-shafttherefor, apair ofescapement-pallets mounted on said shaft, said pallets being separatedfrom each other, a pin-d rum provided with an annular row of pinsadapted to contact with the said pallets, said pallets stopping the drumintermittently during its rotation and the pins being unequally spacedapart at intervals around the drum to permit the drum to move a greaterdistance between stops at certain points inits re volution than atothers, this increased movement being greater than the distance betweenthe pallets, and an ungoverned means for freely rotating the pin-drumwhen the pins are out of contact with the pallets Whereby'sounds ofdiiferentdegrees of volume but of the same character are produced.

11. In a metronome, the combination of a pendulum, a supporting-shafttherefor, a pair of escapement-pallets mounted on said shaft, saidpallets being separated a suitable distance and being beveled on theirouter edges, a pin-drum provided with two parallel annular rows of pinsone of said rows being arranged to contact with the outer beveled edgeof one pallet, and the other row being adapted to contact with the outerbeveled edge of the other pallet, the pallets intermittently stoppingthe rotation of the pin-drum, and the pins of each row being unequallyspaced apart at intervals around the drum to permit a greater movementof the drum between some of said stops than between other stops, and anungoverned means to freely rotate the drum when the pins are outofcontact with the pallets for the purpose set forth.

12. A metronome comprised of a supporting-frame, a horizontal shafttherein, a pendulum on said shaft, a pair of pallets secured to saidshaft, a pin-drum mounted adjacent to said palletsand provided with twoannular rows of pins spaced at suitable distance from each other thepins of one row being adapted to engage the upper edge of one pallet,and the pins of the other row being adapted to engage the lower edge ofthe other pallet, and an ungoverned means for rotating the pin drumfreely when the pins are out of contact with the pallets, the pins ofeach row being unequally spaced apart at intervals around the drum, forthe purpose set forth.

13. In a metronome, the combination of a supporting-frame, a shafttherein carrying a pendulum and two double-faced escapementpallets, apin-drum mounted adjacent the pallets and provided with a plurality ofannular rows of pins, the pins of each row being IIO unequally spacedapart at intervals around the drum, and the pins of each row beingdifferently spaced from the pins of the other rows, means for shiftingthe pin-drum vertically to bring any desired row of pins in position toengage the pallets, means connected to the shifting mechanism toindicate which row of pins is in position to engage the pallets, and anungoverned means for rotating the pin-drum when the pins are out ofcontact with the pallets, for the purpose set forth.

14. A metronome, comprised of a supporting-frame, a horizontal shafttherein carrying a pendulum and a pair of pallets, a pin-drum, aplurality of rows of pins on said drum the pins of each row beingunequally spaced apart at intervals around the drum, and the pins ofeach row being differently spaced from the pins of the other rows, meansfor shifting the pin-drum vertically to bring any desired row of pinsinto engagement with the pallets, a vertical shaft, a driving-gearloosely mounted thereon, a coil-spring secured at one of its ends to thegear and at its other end to the shaft, means to prevent the rotation ofsaid shaft in one direction and a gear meshing with the driving-gear andadapted to freely rotate the pin-drum when the pins are out of contactwith the pallets.

15. In a metronome, the combination of a supporting-frame, a verticalrotatable shaft mounted therein, a driving gear loosely mounted on saidshaft,a coil-spring surrounding said shaft and having one of its endssecured to the driving-gear, its other end being rigidly fastened to thesaid shaft, means to prevent the rotation of said shaft in onedirection, a horizontal shaft carrying a pendulum and a pair of pallets,a pin-drum carrying a plurality of annular rows of pins, the pins ofeach row being unequally spaced apart around the drum, and the pins ofeach row being differently spaced from the pins of the other rows, meansfor vertically shifting said pin-drum to bringany one of said rows ofpins in position to engage the pallets, a pinion engaging thedriving-gear in all positions of the pin-drum and rotating said drum.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature, in the presence oftwo witnesses, this 14th day of March, 1902.

JAMES BRADY.

Witnesses:

JOHN G. PEARSE, WM. R. DAVIS.

